Cardiovascular Disease Screening Programs in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review
Authors' conclusion
CVD screening programs in LMICs can effectively identify unmet cardiometabolic risk, but weak linkage to care limits impact. Strengthening integrated screening-to-treatment pathways is essential to improve outcomes.
Study context
- Population
- Observational and interventional studies assessing cardiovascular or major cardiometabolic screening programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)studies from Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America
- Participants
- Seventeen participants
- Outcome
- Detection rates and linkage to care
Methodological detailsin accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, results synthesized narratively
- In accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines
- Results synthesized narratively
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Meeting hypertension criteria
up to 55%
Classified as high risk for diabetes
≈40%
Preventive service uptake
15% to 58%
Confirmatory testing
as low as 22%
Further pooled results
Diagnostic performance
- Area under the curve range
- 0.64 to 0.91
- Locally adapted risk models generally outperformed imported scores, whereas simplified tools showed acceptable discrimination
Community health worker-led programs vs clinician assessment
- Sensitivity and specificity
- >90%
Original publication
Cardiovascular Disease Screening Programs in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review. JACC Adv. Published 22 July 2026. doi:10.
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it